


Moth to a Flame: Chapter Seven

by gemini_cole



Series: HenryxPoppy [9]
Category: British Actor RPF, Henry Cavill - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-21
Updated: 2014-12-21
Packaged: 2018-03-02 13:57:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2814449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gemini_cole/pseuds/gemini_cole





	Moth to a Flame: Chapter Seven

Moth to a Flame

Chapter Seven

 

 

            Hannah watched as Poppy paced back and forth across the living room for the hundredth time.  Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, she finally asked, “So what are you going to do?”

            Poppy stopped pacing and flopped onto the couch next to Hannah as she wailed, “I don’t _know_! I have to tell Henry, right? But I can’t tell Henry, ‘cause then he’ll hate me even more than he already does, right? But if I don’t tell Henry that makes me a terrible person, wouldn’t it? But I should say something, because it doesn’t just affect him, it affects me too.”

            “Great! Problem solved, I’m going to bed.” Hannah made to leave, but Poppy grabbed her arm and yanked her back down.

            “No! Han! Tell me what to do! I can’t tell Henry just because it effects me, can I? Doesn’t that just make me whiny?”

            “A little.”

            Poppy sighed and rolled her eyes. “Thanks, you’re a big help.”

            “Did you ever think of leaving Henry out of it, and confronting Jessica yourself?”

            “I never think of voluntarily talking to that devil woman.”

            Hannah patted her thigh as she stood up and stretched. “You’re a big girl, I know you can do it. ‘Night, sis.”

            Poppy sighed as she watched Hannah walk up the stairs to her bedroom. She knew Hannah was right, that she needed to do this. But how? To Poppy, it was like stumbling across a grizzly bear in the woods. Common wisdom is to play dead, and the bear will leave you alone. But isn’t every fiber of your being screaming to run like hell in the opposite direction? Confronting Jessica was the very definition of poking the bear and running!

            Poppy stood again, and stalked over to the window. Flicking aside the curtain and staring out into the London night, she thought aloud to herself.

            “All right, Poppy. Think. What do you want? What do you expect to gain from this? How can this go wrong? What’ll you do if this just gets you into more trouble at work? What if Henry blows up at you?”

            She paused. The last one made her inexplicably sad. What would happen after this? Poppy didn’t think she would ever be able to look at Henry the same way if, knowing this about Jessica, he stood by her. It was just so sneaky and disingenuous. Henry was a lot of things: egotistical, stubborn, he could be annoying and condescending, but Poppy didn’t think he’d ever stoop so low as this. She sighed as she turned and mounted the stairs to her own bedroom. Nothing was going to get solved tonight. Hopefully a decent night’s sleep would provide her with the answers she needed.

 

***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************

            The next morning found Poppy yawning as she stood at the on-set coffee cart, mixing her first cup of the morning. Sleep had not come easily or well. Even worse, she was no closer to making up her mind as to what to do. She had just grabbed a blueberry muffin to go with her coffee when she noticed Henry walking onto set, Jessica hanging on his arm. She looked up at him adoringly, and laughed at something he said. They looked, for the entire world to see, like a couple very much in love. As Poppy made her across the studio to hair and makeup, she caught the end of the conversation between several of the crewmembers.

            “She must have come to keep an eye on her man, eh?”

            “Nah, man. Henry’s not that daft. She’s here to keep an eye on the bird trying to steal her man!”

            _Great_ , Poppy thought, glumly. _Everyone thinks_ _I really am a home wrecker_. _So much for the girl next-door image._

By the time Poppy had finished in hair and makeup, and gotten into wardrobe, Henry was already on set, ensconced in his chair, with Jessica sitting in Poppy’s chair right next to him. _No big surprise there_ , she thought. Deciding to choose her battles, Poppy went over to stand with the secondary set of actors, listening idly to the director as the assistant director placed everyone for the scene. The sound guys came to wire her for the day as the wardrobe assistant fussed with her accessories, Poppy tried to let the normalcy of the day soothe her frazzled nerves. It was bound to be a long day, as they had scheduled two outdoor “walk and talk” scenes to shoot and due to possible outside factors, those always took longer to film. Even Hannah knew not to come on days like this, the sheer boredom for visitors on days like today was too much. Hannah had decided long ago that there were better ways for her to spend her days as Poppy’s unofficial “assistant.”

            After three long hours filming, Poppy nearly called Hannah to set anyway. She was bored, and on edge. Word clearly had gotten around about Henry and Poppy being “talked to” by the producers, and the end result was that no one really talked to them, let alone them talking to each other. An awkward silence permeated the set, resulting in everyone feeling uneasy and off-kilter. The director called for a ten-minute break for a set reset, and Henry and Poppy made their way to their respective chairs. As expected, Jessica sat lounging in Poppy’s chair, looking down at her cellphone. Poppy tried discreetly clearing her throat, causing Jessica to snap to attention.

            “Oh you want your chair back? I didn’t think you’d mind. You know, you tried to steal my boyfriend, I steal your seat.” She laughed to cover the malice in her words.

            Something in her tone made Poppy snap. Drawing herself to her full height, she replied, “Yeah… about that. I’d really love it if we could clear the air. I really think things have been blown out of proportion.”

            Jessica arched her eyebrow at her. “I don’t think I’ve blown anything out of proportion. I just _hate_ drama. It’s one of the many things Henry and I have in common, right babe?”

            Henry shifted uncomfortably and mumbled something unintelligible. Jessica turned to Poppy and shrugged.

            “All right, out with it then. Let’s hear your apology.”

            Poppy gritted her teeth. This was not going well, and Jessica seemed to know just what to say to set her on edge. Poppy thought to herself: _Don’t let her do this, Poppy. She’s on your home turf, dammit! Stand up to her!_ Smiling at Jessica sweetly, refusing to rise to her bait, she replied, “let’s go talk in one of the trailers, I’d love to be able to sit down. Shall we?” She began walking towards one of the on-set trailers without waiting for a response from Jessica.

            Poppy opened the door to the makeup trailer. She felt Jessica’s presence behind her. She smiled at the team assembled there before asking quietly, “could you guys give us a couple of minutes? Jessica and I need to talk.” The ladies shot each other meaningful looks as they sidled past Poppy and Jessica, murmuring about needing a coffee refill anyway.

            The door had barely shut when Jessica wheeled around to face Poppy. “Well? What do you have to say to me? Make it quick, your whining makes me nauseous.”

            “I know it was you.”

            “You know it was me, what?”

            “Cut the bullshit, Jessica. I know you’re the source of the leaks.”

            Jessica rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, as she replied condescendingly, “Not that I’m admitting anything, but just _how_ do you know this?”

“I saw you yesterday at the restaurant with Cass. She must have broken speed limits getting back to the office to get that story in by deadline.”

            Jessica smiled. “Everyone needs to vent to friends from time to time, darling. Mine just happen to work for newspapers and magazines.”

            A thought flitted across Poppy’s mind unbidden. The party. The paparazzi. “You arranged the paparazzi at the welcome back party too, didn’t you? Why?”

            “Why? I was trying to get you fired, darling. Unfortunately for me, you have a good reputation, and the producers are willing to put up with your “hijinks.” Though, I am having a good time adjusting that little factor.”

            “But what about Henry? Don’t you care about how this is affecting him? You claim to love him! Our characters just got married. If I leave the show, he wouldn’t have much of a job left either.”

            Jessica’s smile faltered briefly. “Well, I didn’t anticipate Henry’s reaction to your little snafu. That’s when I knew I really had to do something drastic. But this show is garbage. If it happened that the show got cancelled, it would have freed him up to pursue bigger projects. If not, then without you on the show, he could have a juicy storyline and really shine. It’s a win-win.”

            “I can’t believe you would do this to the man you love. People aren’t playthings. You can’t just arrange his life to suit your needs.”

            “Oh please. People do it all the time. I never claimed to love him. I said he was my Prince Charming. And he is. Love has nothing to do with it.”

            “Then why are you going to such trouble for him?”

            “It’s show business, darling. This relationship is mutually beneficial. I get a pretty piece of charming arm candy, and he gets his status boosted by dating an Oscar nominee.”

            “What about the future? Henry’s made it clear he wants a wife and children. What then?”

            Jessica shrugged. “There are ways around that. There always is.”

            Poppy stared incredulously at her. “You are certifiable, you know that?”

            Jessica advanced on her menacingly, stabbing a finger at her. “Buttercup, if you know what’s good for you, you won’t breathe a word of this to Henry. Now, I’m willing to call a truce with you right here and now, but you need to cooperate with me, got it?”

            “What do you want?”

            Jessica smiled beatifically at her. “You quit your job. Leave. Tell the producers you miss America, or that you have a chance for a big movie role. Hell, I’ll even help you get one. Just leave Henry to me. Stay out of his life for good. That’s all I want.”

Poppy stood, staring levelly at Jessica, as she announced. “Not fucking likely. I love my life, and my job. I won’t let you take that away from me. Excuse me, I need to get back to work.” At that, she brushed past Jessica and opened the door and left.

She was met with a stunned silence. Suddenly everything was happening all at once. As Poppy took in the thunder-stuck look on Henry’s face, two bigger-than-life security guards moved forward, past Poppy to Jessica. In a flash, they were flanking her on both sides and moving her to a waiting car, as Jessica screamed in frustration, begging Henry for help, to understand.

As Poppy looked around confusedly, one of the makeup artists patted her shoulder, whispering, “Your mic, hon. You’re still mic’ed. Everyone heard everything.”


End file.
